This invention relates to the container sealing art and more particularly to a method and means for compensating the control of the closure feed stop and start in accordance with the sealing machine operating speed.
Automatic sealing machines operate at extremely high speeds to seal containers at rates as high as one to two thousand containers per minute. In order for the sealing machines to operate at these high speeds, the supply of the filled containers must be coordinated with a correspondingly high speed feeding of the closure caps. Synchronization of the cap feed and the container feed requires the closure feed to be stopped and started in accordance with the feed of the containers. In view of the extremely high feeding rates in use and of the differing masses of the feed systems employed for the containers and caps, changes in machine speed have resulted in a loss of synchronism between the cap and container feed.
Occasionally, for example, after a change in machine speed and upon a break in the supply of containers, the stop controlling the cap feed operates too slowly in cutting off the cap feed. This leaves one or more extra caps in the sealing machinery resulting in a loss of container and cap feeding synchronization. A similar failure of synchronization on the start-up may cause caps to be fed in advance of the containers. A failure of synchronization resulting from a machine speed change may also cut the cap feed off prematurely resulting in unsealed containers.
The method and means of the present invention provide an automatic correction of the cap feed control. The method and means operate to advance or retard the control action responsive to machine speed changes so that an exact number of caps are fed at all times.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved control system for sealing machine cap feeds.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved cap feed for sealing machines which is speed compensated.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved sealing machine jar trip which is compensated for changes of the sealing machine speed.
Another object of the invention is to provide a rugged and relatively simple and automatic speed compensating means for sealing machine container trip systems.
Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described or will be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention in practice.